Chapter Text
Hagrid’s boots crunched on the gravel outside 4 Privet Drive. He had been sent to fetch Harry Potter. The letters had gone unanswered, the Dursleys silent, and now it was up to him to make sure the boy got to Hogwarts in time. A job he has eleated to be chosen for.
He rapped on the door with his massive knuckles. Aunt Petunia opened it, her eyes narrowing as she took in the huge figure before her.
“I’m here for Harry Potter,” Hagrid said, his deep voice careful but firm.
Aunt Petunia blinked. “Harry Potter? I… I do not know what you mean. We do not have a boy by that name.”
Hagrid froze, his stomach twisting. “You don’t know him at all?”
“No,” she said quickly, stepping back. “I have never heard of any Harry Potter. You must be mistaken. Now get off my doorstep."
Hagrid’s huge hands shook. The boy he had been sent to collect, the boy who had survived You-Know-Who, the boy Dumbledore had entrusted to his care, was missing. Completely unknown. Completely absent.
He stepped back from the door, blinking, trying to make sense of it. He had delivered Harry to this very address 10 years ago. Handed him to Dumbledore, on this very front lawn yet it was as though the boy simply did not exist here.
Hagrid turned away from the house, heart pounding. Something was very wrong.
Hagrid arrived at Hogwarts, empty-handed and worried. The castle rose around him, familiar and comforting, yet nothing felt right.
He pushed open the headmaster’s office door. “Professor Dumbledore,” he said, voice low and tight.
Dumbledore looked up from his desk, his eyes sharp behind the half-moon spectacles. “Hagrid, how did it go with young Mr Potter.”
“I went to get Harry, sir. Just like you said,” Hagrid said, swallowing hard. “But… they don’t know him. They’ve never heard of him. There was no Harry Potter.”
Dumbledore’s face darkened slightly. “No Harry Potter?”
“No, sir. I… I don’t understand it. The boy… it is like he does not exist. They do not know who he is. Nothing… nothing about him is here.”
Dumbledore leaned back, his fingers steepled, eyes distant. “Thank you, Hagrid. That is troubling news indeed. Very troubling.”
Hagrid shifted, unease settling heavy on his shoulders. “Sir… what do we do?”
Dumbledore’s gaze remained far away, as if he were peering into a world that had been altered. “We must find him, Hagrid. Whatever has happened must be easily explained I am sure. We will find the boy and make sure he gets to Hogwarts on time.”
Dumbledore paced the length of his office, eyes flicking from his desk to the enchanted trackers spread across the room. Each small globe, each delicate charm, glimmered faintly, showing every movement in and out of PrivetDrive, charms he had placed on the boy, and magical correspondences sent for Harry Potter. And yet, nothing.
Severus Snape leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed, expression sharp. “Perhaps the boy simply ran away,” he said, voice low and pointed. “A spoiled little brat refusing to go to school. It would hardly be the first time a child avoided responsibility.”
Dumbledore stopped pacing, jaw tight, but his eyes did not leave the charms. “I have checked every enchantment placed to track him,” he said quietly. “He never left the doorstep, Severus. Not once. The boy never… made it into his Aunts home.”
Snape raised an eyebrow, the corners of his mouth twitching with faint amusement. “Then perhaps it was unwise to leaving a sleeping child alone on a doorstep."
Dumbledore’s hands clenched behind his back. "I left him with every level of protection, Severus. He has simply vanished.”
Severus shrugged. “Still it is unpredictable, Headmaster. You may have planned everything, cast all the charms, and still…"
Dumbledore shook his head slowly. “No, it is more than that. Something has prevented him. I cannot feel it from here, but the magic shows me only one truth: Harry Potter has never been within that house. Whatever is keeping him… it is not a choice he made freely.”
Snape gave a quiet, unimpressed hum. “Then I suppose we are left to wait. Or to continue to search in vain.”
Dumbledore’s eyes darkened, a flicker of worry passing through the usual calm in his gaze. “We cannot wait. Every moment he remains unseen is a moment the world moves on without him. And if he is lost, there may be consequences far greater than any of us can predict.”
The Daily Prophet, September 1st
Where is Harry Potter? And Why Did Dumbledore Let It Happen?
The wizarding world has been thrown into turmoil as reports confirm that Harry Potter, the boy who should be arriving at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry for his first year, has gone missing. Despite exhaustive searches by Hogwarts staff and the Ministry of Magic, no trace of the boy has been found.
Questions are being raised about how a child so important to the safety of the wizarding world could vanish without a trace. Harry Potter, famous for surviving attacks by the Dark Lord as a baby, was meant to begin his education at Hogwarts this September.
Headmaster Albus Dumbledore, responsible for ensuring the boy’s safe passage to Hogwarts, has not yet provided a satisfactory explanation. Many are asking how such a disappearance could occur under his watch. Some critics are suggesting that the headmaster’s oversight—or worse, negligence—may have allowed this alarming event to happen.
The wizarding community waits anxiously for answers, and the Ministry of Magic has urged anyone with information about Harry Potter’s whereabouts to come forward immediately.
2 years later...
The Daily Prophet
Harry Potter Officially Declared Missing, Presumed Dead
Two years after his unexplained disappearance, the Ministry of Magic has formally declared Harry Potter missing, presumed dead.
Potter, widely known throughout the wizarding world as the Boy Who Lived, was found to be missing shortly before beginning his first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Despite extensive investigations conducted across both the wizarding and Muggle worlds, no confirmed sightings or magical traces of the boy have ever been discovered.
Officials from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement confirmed yesterday that the case remains open, though hopes of finding the boy alive have largely faded.
The circumstances surrounding Potter’s disappearance continue to raise uncomfortable questions. Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts and the wizard believed to have arranged the child’s placement with Muggle guardians, has faced repeated scrutiny over the lack of protections surrounding the boy.
Several members of the Wizengamot have quietly suggested that greater oversight should have been in place for a child of Potter’s significance.
When asked for comment, Headmaster Dumbledore stated only that “the search for Harry Potter has never truly ended.”
For many in the wizarding world, however, the reality is far less hopeful.
The boy who once symbolised the fall of the Dark Lord may now be remembered only as another tragedy of that war.
3 years later...
The Daily Prophet
Triwizard Tournament to Return After Centuries
In an unprecedented announcement this morning, the Ministry of Magic has confirmed that the legendary Triwizard Tournament will be revived this year and hosted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.
The historic competition, traditionally held between the three largest European wizarding schools, will see Hogwarts welcome both Beauxbatons Academy of Magic and the Durmstrang Institute later this year. Each school will enter a champion who will compete in a series of magical tasks designed to test bravery, intelligence, and magical skill.
The tournament, discontinued centuries ago due to the high number of injuries and fatalities among competitors, has been reinstated following strict new safety regulations approved by the Ministry.
Headmaster Albus Dumbledore expressed optimism regarding the event, stating that the tournament will be “a rare opportunity for unity and cooperation between the great magical schools of Europe.”
Students across Britain have already begun speculating about who might represent Hogwarts.
The champion will be selected by the Goblet of Fire, an ancient magical artifact tasked with choosing the most worthy competitor from each school.
While the exact date of the selection ceremony has not yet been announced, anticipation is already building among the student body.
For the first time in generations, Hogwarts will once again host one of the wizarding world’s most dangerous and prestigious magical events.
31st October 1994...
The Goblet flared red.
A single slip of parchment shot into the air.
Dumbledore caught it.
His eyes froze on the name written there.
Harry Potter